Chapter 352: The Tan Family’s Dilemma

"You, Zhou Ming, are simply too audacious!"

Hearing the roaring voice of Chairman Du Zhongyuan over the phone, Zhou Ming slightly moved the phone away from his ear and said into the receiver, "Chairman Du, could you lower your voice a bit? I know I'm audacious. I also know that I act recklessly, without considering the bigger picture, and only follow my own whims. But isn't this a bit much? I was just about to take a nap, and you scared the life out of me with this call."

Hearing Zhou Ming's indifferent and almost rogue-like response, Du Zhongyuan couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and frustration. After all, he was the President, yet this little rascal couldn't show even a minimum level of respect?

Of course, Du Zhongyuan couldn't voice this complaint. He wasn't really angry with Zhou Ming, after all. While Zhou Ming's words were indeed careless, his attitude was what really rubbed Du Zhongyuan the wrong way.

Nap? Du Zhongyuan could hardly believe his ears. Zhou Ming had just caused such a major incident in the morning, stirring up the entire capital. An ordinary person might have lost sleep over it, yet this guy was still thinking about taking a nap at noon? How utterly carefree does one have to be to act like this?

The reason Zhou Ming dared to speak this way wasn't that he was truly indifferent or thought that knowing Du Peng meant he was automatically part of the Du family and could disregard a national leader. Rather, Zhou Ming had picked up on the happiness behind Du Zhongyuan's roar. He knew the chairman wasn't genuinely angry and was only putting on a show, which gave Zhou Ming the confidence to act nonchalantly.

Or you could say that Du Zhongyuan would actually be happier with this kind of attitude. Conversely, if Zhou Ming had groveled and said a bunch of nonsense, it would have only annoyed him.

"Zhou Ming, do you know the nature of what you did at the gate of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Government Office? Do you realize the political consequences of your actions? The tragic incident at Dongdan is still fresh in our minds, and now you dare to stir up trouble at the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Government Office? Where is your political awareness?" Du Zhongyuan spoke in a tone of disappointment.

"But nothing happened," Zhou Ming muttered under his breath.

Despite his age, Du Zhongyuan caught this remark immediately and reprimanded him, "Zhou Ming, what kind of attitude is that? Are you really that indifferent? Fortunately, nothing happened, or you would have been the villain in this incident!"

Zhou Ming was mentally prepared for this scolding. After all, daring to stage a public protest at the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Government Office, causing such a stir, would have been a problem if Du Zhongyuan didn't say something about it.

Reflecting on the incident, Zhou Ming considered himself quite lucky. People generally avoid harm, and if the crowd had truly been ordered to be arrested by the police, ordinary citizens unrelated to him would likely have scattered immediately. Zhou Ming didn't believe they would have fought to the end against any unjust forces for his sake.

But the result was that the police chickened out. The officer only tried to scare people and didn't dare to give the order to arrest anyone, so the crowd ended up driving the police away.

This outcome was somewhat within Zhou Ming's expectations. After all, the biggest trait in officialdom is conservatism. Everyone is working to secure their position, and nobody wants to make a mistake and take the blame for others. Imagine if that officer had given the order to arrest people, leading to a conflict between police and citizens. Zhou Ming might not have known what would happen to him, but the officer certainly wouldn't have remained in his position.

It was this understanding that led the officer to meekly retreat, preferring to be embarrassed and driven away rather than give the order.

Reflecting on the past, Zhou Ming remembered a high-ranking official from a certain province who was questioned abroad about the alleged nonexistence of a massacre, which was claimed to be a fabrication by the Chinese people. The official endured the questioning with a smile. Compared to such officials in later generations, this officer was actually quite commendable.

After the police left, the group Zhou Ming had rallied became even more aggressive. The Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Government Office had no choice but to send someone out to accept the petition Zhou Ming submitted. They couldn't just let Zhou Ming and his group stay there all day, as that would escalate the situation from a simple protest to a significant political event.

"Chairman, may I ask how my petition is being handled?" Zhou Ming asked.

Du Zhongyuan snorted coldly and replied, "Your petition has been handed over to the Beijing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, and they have already started their investigation. The relevant suspects have been taken into custody by the commission."

"Where are the suspects being held? There won't be any accidents, will there?" Zhou Ming inquired.

Du Zhongyuan didn't expect Zhou Ming to ask such a question and responded impatiently, "They're being held at the Municipal Commission's hotel. What kind of accidents could there be? Or are you planning something else, Zhou Ming?"

"Chairman, I didn't mean it that way. I completely trust the leadership of the Beijing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection. I won't be causing any more trouble."

Realizing that Du Zhongyuan was genuinely getting annoyed, Zhou Ming quickly admitted his mistake. However, his question wasn't baseless. Zhou Ming remembered that in his past life, when the Tan family scandal broke, it started with the finance director. This finance director ended up committing suicide in the Discipline Inspection Commission's hotel, which was why Zhou Ming had asked.

Of course, Zhou Ming wasn't too worried that the same thing would happen this time because that would have been a disastrous move.

"You'd better remember that, and behave yourself while you're in the capital. Otherwise, I wouldn't hesitate to have you detained or forcibly sent out of the country."

With a final threat, Du Zhongyuan hung up the phone. Zhou Ming, hearing the busy signal, shrugged at Du Peng, who was giving him a thumbs up.

Meanwhile, on Du Zhongyuan's end, the president smiled wryly at Yang Dingguo, who was beside him. "Yang Lao, you must think this is quite embarrassing. I can't even manage this young rascal."

Yang Dingguo shook his head, reassuring him, "Zhongyuan, don't be too hard on yourself. This kid is quite slippery. Even I find him troublesome! But he's got that youthful fearlessness. Without that spirit, he wouldn't have accomplished so much, and we old fellows wouldn't have had the chance to meet him!"

After giving a half-joking evaluation of Zhou Ming, Yang Dingguo continued, "But from what he said just now, it's clear that he did it on purpose."

Looking at Du Zhongyuan, Yang Dingguo asked, "Zhongyuan, what do you make of this situation?"

Du Zhongyuan pondered for a while before replying, "He's young, but his insight is sharp!"

Yang Dingguo nodded in agreement because those ten words clearly conveyed his opinion of Zhou Ming and the situation, aligning with his own thoughts.

Following the earlier incident, Yang Dingguo had already assessed the situation, saying that if Zhou Ming was thinking long-term, he would definitely seize this opportunity to settle scores with the Tan family, but not by dwelling on the previous incident. Sure enough, Zhou Ming had set the stage for a new development.

As for Zhou Ming's public accusation, it showed a lot of insight. After all, Zhou Ming was just an ordinary person with no background or connections. There was no way he could take on a political dynasty like the Tan family head-on. His only option was to make a public accusation.

However, even someone of Yang Dingguo's stature could only chuckle at the idea of a public accusation, which meant that a regular accusation wouldn't be effective. Thus, only extreme measures would work.

Zhou Ming chose to make the accusation public and cause a stir. In doing so, he was playing with fire. Whether the outcome was good or bad, it wouldn't benefit him. Anyone within the system would never act this way; only Zhou Ming would dare to do so. The smartest thing Zhou Ming did in this situation was not taking his complaint to the central government but choosing the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Government Office, which made things interesting.

If the matter reached the central government, it would become a national issue. If there was a public disturbance at Zhongnanhai, the severity would escalate, and no one would tolerate it. However, by choosing the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Government Office, Zhou Ming cleverly avoided the risk of escalating the incident.

Finally, Zhou Ming's actions presented the Tan family with a major dilemma: should they investigate or not?

These political families entrenched in the central government have few clean dealings. If the Beijing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection conducted a thorough investigation and found something incriminating, what then? But if they didn't investigate, Zhou Ming had already made a scene at the committee's gate, and ignoring it would be out of the question.

Thinking of this, Yang Dingguo smiled, "The current situation is getting very interesting. Those in the South want to take down the Tan family, and now Zhou Ming has played his part. It seems things are about to change."

Du Zhongyuan caught the implication in his words and quickly asked, "Yang Lao, are you suggesting that the central government should intervene?"

Yang Dingguo shook his head repeatedly, "No, it's not time yet. Just now, didn't that young fellow Zhou

 Ming ask if there would be an accident with the Beijing finance director taken by the Discipline Inspection Commission?"

Du Zhongyuan immediately understood, "Yang Lao, you mean… But wouldn't that be the Tan family digging its own grave? They wouldn't go that far, would they?"

"That's what it seems like. From what I know of the Tan family, they wouldn't do something like that. But on certain matters, even we old folks have to admit that young Zhou Ming's judgment is spot on!" Yang Dingguo said.

Du Zhongyuan was stunned. As someone who had spent so many years alongside Yang Dingguo, he knew him well. Those who received such high praise from Yang Dingguo were not few, but every one of them was a monumental figure in history. Could it be that Zhou Ming would be one of them too?